The Seal Deal
by siyentista
Summary: A conversation between Soi Fong and Yoruichi after the battle at the fake Karakura town. What does Yoruichi have to say about Soi Fong's request to seal Kisuke and how will Soi Fong explain herself? Major manga spoilers!


The wind kept blowing against the white haori on her back, lightly distorting the symbol that indicated her position as captain of the Second Squad and providing momentary glimpses of the her Covert Ops Commander uniform underneath. It wasn't that it was naturally breezy in the courtyard that was set in the middle of the Fourth Squad Headquarters. The gusts that blew in random directions every few minutes were artificial, generated by healers frantically running around in an effort to save the injured officers of the Gotei 13, and by the flash steps of the remaining officers that had to compensate for their comrades' incapacity.

Soi Fong could sense relief in the air. The battle had ended in their favor; and Karakura, the King, the world, and whatever else it was that Aizen threatened remained safe for another day. They had dealt Aizen a huge blow by practically eliminating the Espada, and by successfully extracting the human girl, Inoue-san, from his clutches. Yes, there was relief, but she could also sense apprehension. After all, Aizen was able to escape into Hueco Mundo before he could even be harmed, and the same was true for his lackeys, Gin and Tousen.

Everything remained safe for the time being, but the war was anything but over. With the way the battle ended, there was no way to predict what Aizen would do next. Would he keep going after the Karakura in order to make the key? Would he invade Soul Society to get to it? How would he do it without the Espada? The worst of it was that they were in no position to deal with Aizen's dastardly, devious plans. Most of the lieutenants and seated officers sent to defend Karakura were fatally injured. Two senior captains, Kyoraku and Ukitake were heavily wounded and could not be expected to defend Soul Society. The truth of it was that if the Vizards hadn't come, they all would have died. And again, if Yoruichi-sama, Tessai, Isshin, and Ryuuken had not arrived when they did, Aizen would not have had any problems with lingering in the living world and killing off the officers of the Gotei 13.

As it was, even she, the hand-to-hand combat expert, was now missing her left arm. She was upset at the loss, of course, but in the face of their dire situation, she found herself oddly thankful to the powers that be that her shikai and bankai did not need her left arm.

Soi Fong flashed away from the courtyard and settled on one of the towers that overlooked the Seireitei. There, she watched the chaos at the Fourth Squad's, before turning her attention to the serene landscape of the Rukongai and the dot of the real and peacefully sleeping Karakura in the distance. 'How long would the peace last?' Soi Fong wondered.

She sat down and made to lean back on her elbows, nearly losing balance before she remembered what the ache and wetness on her left side meant. 'That's right,' she thought while drawing her lips into a thin line, 'I'm going to have to retrain myself to get used to my handicap, or else… ' She shook her head as if to banish the morbid thoughts.

Just then, the wind howled and she sensed rather than heard a foot touching down on the roof she was on. Her eyes widened, 'Telltale signs of a flash step master!' The still-jumpy captain was about to spring into a battle stance, unbalanced as it would have been in her current state, when she felt the familiar reiatsu.

"Yo, Soi Fong," Yoruichi called. Her long hair floated in the aftermath of that last step before settling against her back.

"Yoruichi-sama," Soi Fong greeted back casually with a nod without bothering to look in her direction. Had it been any other time, she would have been more excited to be in her presence, or at the very least she would have been more accommodating of her guest. Right now, she had too much on her mind. They stayed in companionable silence for a few minutes, simply surveying the Seireitei and the surrounding areas, before Yoruichi spoke up once again.

"Does it hurt?" she asked Soi Fong.

"Huh?" A confused Soi Fong glanced at Yoruichi.

"Your arm, Soi. Does it hurt?" Yoruichi clarified.

"Oh… I guess so." Soi Fong responded as she went back to conversing with her former commander without looking at her. She rubbed at the tender shoulder above the stub of her left arm.

Yoruichi frowned, "You really should be at the Fourth right now. Unohana-taichou just got back."

Soi Fong looked down at the bandaged remains of her arm before and kept her eyes there as she said, "There people that need her more than I do. I got to stop the bleeding even before I went into bankai. Anything short of a full restorative surgery or Inoue-san's rejection will be useless luxury."

Yoruichi nodded reluctantly then paused, deciding whether she wanted to bring up the other matter.

"You know, speaking of bankai, I spoke to Hachi before I crossed the Senkaimon. He said that Jakuho Raikoben was extremely powerful and that it cracked the Gates of the Four Beasts."

Realizing that this was going to be an actual conversation and not one of the quick exchanges she had gotten used to since getting reacquainted with her former mentor, Soi Fong turned to Yoruichi.

"I wish I could have seen it," she continued with a smile that was both, proud and sad. "You've become so strong and I had nothing to do with it."

Soi Fong wasn't sure what to say. She was happy that Yoruichi was proud of her accomplishment, but disappointed at herself because it wasn't enough, in the end. On top of that, she had the urge to ease the guilt of the one she had sworn to protect by saying that Yoruichi had, in fact, trained her in her earlier years. But then she perfected her shikai and obtained bankai through her own blood and sweat in Yoruichi's absence. The bitter part of her took satisfaction in Yoruichi's guilt, if only briefly.

And so Soi Fong remained silent and waited, while Yoruichi turned silent as well, appearing to be lost in thought.

"Hachi said you wanted him to seal Kisuke." Yoruichi said, after a while.

Soi Fong cringed at the sudden intensity in Yoruichi's golden gaze, but that was all the guilt she could manage for stipulating that Yoruichi's childhood friend be sealed before she helped Hachi destroy Barragan. Soi Fong had almost forgotten about it as she had said it in the heat of the moment. After all, what completely calm and rational warrior would refuse to destroy her enemy and save herself from certain doom if she had the option to do so? But she had her reasons and she thought they were good enough to justify mentioning her request. Deep down, Soi Fong knew Hachi wouldn't seal Urahara. Heck, deep down, Soi Fong would not have let Hachi go through with it even if he was willing to seal the man who had saved his life. Urahara's knowledge and expertise was proving to be essential to winning the war. For the greater good, she would have tolerated him even if Soi Fong didn't like him.

Soi Fong felt no need to explain all of her thoughts on the matter. She answered Yoruichi's non-question defiantly, "Hachigen is missing and arm and owes his life to Urahara. We both know he can't and won't do it."

Yoruichi was beginning to get irritated. "Inoue-san has restored Hachi's arm, just as she will restore yours when she can manage it. Also, Hachi is a man of his word."

Unfortunately for Yoruichi, she had caught Soi Fong in a very odd mood that had her shrugging instead of properly responding.

"Shaolin Fong!" Yoruichi screeched exasperatedly. Yoruichi didn't know what to make of the indifferent disrespect with which her ever-loyal subordinate and student was suddenly treating her; but rather than surrender to confusion, she surrendered to her temper. "What is wrong with you?! I know that you got hurt, but isn't it a little petty to get revenge on Kisuke for taking me away from Soul Society all those years ago?" She was growing desperate. Her visit was as much for checking on Soi Fong as it was for fixing the whole sealing issue. She had hoped that Soi Fong would take back her request as soon as she brought it up, and this turn of events was entirely unexpected.

Soi Fong sighed. She guessed that Yoruichi's "betrayal" would come up again sooner or later. Truly, it was a wonder that they never talked about it in the days or the months that followed their initial reunion. Oh, there was an apology after the Shunko fight—from both sides—but they never really talked it over because there wasn't any time and anyway, the truth about Aizen explained why it was necessary. To Soi Fong, though, it wasn't as caveman-easy as "Aizen bad. Urahara good."

"I don't blame him for your leaving," Soi Fong began as she stared at the blood red tiles that covered the roof. Yoruichi was silenced.

Soi Fong looked Yoruichi in the eyes and explained, "A long time ago, I realized that truly strong people cannot be forced to do things against their will. Then, I learned about accountability. I always thought you were strong, and so I figured that must have been your own decision to leave, regardless of whether Urahara gave you a reason or not. You decided that there was something more important and you left Soul Society, your squad and… and your subordinates." Her voice was weakening, but she finished. "Only you are to be held accountable for that."

There was a bitter resignation in Soi Fong's words that Yoruichi had thought to have vanished months ago. Yoruichi suddenly wasn't sure whether she liked it better when she thought Soi Fong blamed Urahara or not.

"Look," Soi Fong interrupted Yoruichi's thoughts, "I already sent Omaeda to tell Hachigen not to do it a while ago. You can stop worrying about your boyfriend." Yoruichi heard defeat and tried to process what the tone meant before she realized what had been said.

"Wait, what?" Yoruichi said.

"Oh, come on, Yoruichi-sama. You heard me the first time. Now, if you would excuse me, I really would like some time to myself." Now it was Soi Fong who was getting irritated and was about to lose her temper. Yoruichi couldn't help but miss the younger end meeker Soi Fong.

"Wait, so Kisuke's clear?"

A curt, "Yes."

"And you don't blame him for me leaving?"

"Not really," she said with a little less certainty.

"Then why did you want him to be sealed in the first place?!" Yoruichi was utterly confused.

Soi Fong, who was, by now, standing up sighed in resignation and plopped back down.

She took a moment to gather her thoughts. When Yoruichi stopped looking confused and started looking impatient, she decided to just wing it.

" Yoruichi-sama, you know I've never liked Urahara. Back when you were both in the Second Squad, I used to overhear the other guards making fun of me because they thought I was jealous of your faith in his abilities and the time you spent with him. I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but they were right."

Yoruichi opened her mouth to say something, but Soi Fong pushed forward.

"Even if things didn't happen like they did a century ago, I think I would still be rude to him, still dislike him. But a battle is serious, and so is a sealing. To be honest, when I made that deal with Hachigen, I wasn't thinking of Kisuke, Yoruichi-sama's boyfriend. That man… he made the Hougyouku. He may have been wrongly blamed for what happened to Kensei's squad and for the hollowification of those captains and lieutenants, but he made the Hougyouku, which has to mean he was doing what Aizen did, though his methods and intentions were probably better." She said the last part louder and quickly enough so that her former commander wouldn't be too offended on behalf of the man.

Yoruichi seemed to be listening intently, so she continued. "He made the Hougyouku and messed up hiding it, sending innocent people to their deaths and wreaking havoc on the Seireitei. In the end, Aizen still got his invention and used it to make those Espada that almost wiped out the Gotei 13 leadership."

"Heh," Soi Fong chuckled darkly, "I guess the short explanation is that I was struggling against an unbeatable foe that cost me my arm, and I was surrounded by the fading reiatsu of my comrades. All I could think was that Urahara was a menace for indirectly causing all this, and something had to be done." Soi Fong tried to read Yoruichi's reaction, but her face was blank.

"I see," Yoruichi said slowly. "Not that I'm not pleased, but why did you call it off?"

" … Because Kurotsuchi's creepy and he's twice the mad and half the genius of your own mad genius… "

Yoruichi laughed heartily, blowing away the heaviness that had descended upon them. Emboldened, Soi Fong continued slyly, "Also because he needs to fix his mess."

When Yoruichi calmed down, she thought of her young protégé and was pleased to see what kind of woman she had grown up to be. She was not without her faults, mind you, but she certainly had Yoruichi's respect.

Soi Fong took the pause in the conversation to take off her haori and gently wrap it around the now-soaked bandages on her left arm. As Yoruichi looked at her stormy gray eyes, her porcelain skin and her petite muscled figure now unobscured, she thought, 'Maybe, just maybe, it's a little more than respect."

"Hey Soi, you really need to get that looked at. Looks nasty."

Soi Fong nodded.

"I'll go with you," Yoruichi volunteered.

"I… " Soi Fong began, thinking about how her time alone had been interrupted. Then she smiled brightly at Yoruichi, "I think I'd like that, actually."

As they set off at a walk from the bottom of the tower, Yoruichi's eyes glinted with mischief and Soi Fong had to wonder if she had made the right decision letting Yoruichi join her.

"You sure were talkative today," Yoruichi teased. "It reminds of that time before Kisuke took the captaincy exam and you listed all of his shortcomings like you did just now. You know, you got a lot of his faults right," she laughed.

Soi Fong frowned at the memory, but was pleasantly surprised when Yoruichi finished shat she was saying.

" … which is why he can never be my boyfriend. I know him too well."


End file.
